This invention relates to a method and an apparatus for enhancing primary, secondary and tertiary recovery from oil-bearing formations.
Numerous methods for enhancing secondary and tertiary recovery from oil-bearing formations include the step of injecting hydrogen gas into an oil-bearing formation. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,597,441 to Ware, 4,183,405 to Magnie, 4,141,417 to Schora et. al., 3,598,182 to Justheim, 3,327,782 to Hujsak, and 3,084,919 to Slator each disclose methods for injecting hydrogen to achieve in-situ hydrogenation and thereby enhance the recovery additional hydrocarbon values from a deposit. U.S. Pat. No. 4,024,912 to Hamrick et. al., teaches a relatively complex hydrogen generating process which includes combustion of hydrocarbons in an oxygen-lean atmosphere to produce a mixture of carbon monoxide and free hydrogen, which is then reacted with water in the presence of an iron catalyst, thereby converting the carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide and generating additional hydrogen. The carbon dioxide is then condensed from the mixture, leaving a relatively pure hydrogen gas which can be injected into an oil-bearing deposit according to known methods.